Anthony Joshua will change trainers on a one-fight basis.
Joshua’s training situation has been an ongoing discussion since his first fight with Oleksandr Usyk. Following the unanimous decision loss, he split with Rob McCracken – the man who guiding him to Olympic Gold and the unified heavyweight world titles.
For the rematch Joshua would link up with Robert Garcia. A split-decision loss paired with some comments Garcia made to the media post-fight led the fighter to end that relationship early.
Derrick James – Texan trainer who won some best of the year awards recently – was then appointed.
Joshua moved his camp to the States to join the likes of Errol Spence Jr, Jermell Charlo and, most recently, Ryan Garcia in the World Class Boxing Gym. The partnership has overseen a unanimous decision win against Jermaine Franklin and a knockout of Robert Helenius.
Whilst Joshua was out of camp but still training, it was reported that he was ‘ticking over’ in Ben Davison’s gym.
Davison rose to fame when he coached Tyson Fury for his comeback, but the Morecambe man split with him before a rematch wIth Deontay Wilder in which he won the WBC World Title.
Promoter Eddie Hearn recently told Boxing Social that Davison wasn’t only providing the facilities.
Now, the Daily Star reports that Joshua will be entirely under the tutelage of Davison for his next fight against Otto Wallin, set to be announced today. It’s said to be a logistical decision, and will see the former champion train in the UK for the Saudi Arabia bout on December 23.
‘AJ’ will then move back to James as his head coach, but many online are speculating that a good showing under Davison – who trains Leigh Wood, has worked with Devin Haney and has recently been a part of British Heavyweight Champion Fabio Wardley’s team – will make it a permanent move.
In an intriguing twist, Davison’s final bout with Fury was against Otto Wallin – a tougher-than-expected night that saw ‘The Gypsy King’ cut badly with the potential to have it waved off in Wallin’s favour. He won, but would require 47 stitches to recover.
